Some paintings have a sad fate. They sit on on the shelves of a thrift store or up in a dusty attic, forgotten for months, maybe years, and will probably never find a forever home to be displayed proudly in. Maybe you’ve got something like this tucked away in your own home, or seen one in a thrift store yourself. If they get lucky and someone mistakes them for a Matisse, or maybe they just happen to get picked up by this guy, they can be admired again.
David Irvine, the talented Canadian artist behind the Gnarled Branch, has set out to salvage thrift store paintings from their sad demise. Instead, he collects these paintings and “re-directs” them by adding pop culture favorites like Batman or Godzilla. His characters fit right in with their surroundings, and the result is seriously impressive. He calls it redirected art.
In every Re-Directed painting that he does, David doesn’t paint over the existing signature, and depending on the project, adapts the traits of the original (coloring, lighting, brushstrokes etc.), or goes in a complete opposite direction and achieve a high contrast in imagery. All of the paintings currently available can be found on the Gnarled Branch Etsy store.
We have a local gal in Salt Lake City that’s been doing this for years. Her stuff is really great! Check her out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/katmartinartist